Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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78. To ask the Minister for Finance if the provision that permits stamp duty relief for land involving the sale and purchase of land by farmers, which facilitates such considerations and which was part of the Finance Act 2017 and was to be commenced by way of signature on 15 December 2017 and which further appears not to have been implemented to date, will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12136/18]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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93. To ask the Minister for Finance when he plans to sign the commencement order relating to consolidation relief for farmers regarding stamp duty; the length of time the exploration of state aid rules will take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12514/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 93 together.

The measure to allow a farmer to claim relief from stamp duty where he or she sells and purchases land for the purposes of consolidating an existing farm holding has been introduced, subject to a commencement order after a full consideration of any administrative or EU state-aid requirements.

For the relief to operate, there must be both a sale and a purchase of land within a period of 24 months of each other. Where other qualifying conditions are satisfied, stamp duty will only be paid to the extent that the value of the land that is purchased exceeds the value of the land that is sold.  A reduced rate of 1% will be charged on the excess, if any, of the purchase value. If the sale takes place before the purchase, then relief will be given at the time of purchase.  However, if the purchase takes place first, then stamp duty will have to be paid but can subsequently be refunded when the sale takes place.

A number of qualifying conditions must be satisfied before the relief can apply. The most important condition is that Teagasc must issue a certificate stating that a sale and purchase or an exchange of farmland was made for farm consolidation purposes. This is the certificate that is currently required in relation to the capital gains tax relief. The criteria to be used by Teagasc for this purpose and the information to be supplied to Teagasc are contained in guidelines published by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

A purchaser of farmland must retain ownership of the farmland for a period of five years and must use the land for farming. Where any part of the land is disposed of before the end of this five-year holding period, the stamp duty relieved can subsequently be recovered by Revenue, or partly recovered as appropriate.

The Deputy may wish to note that the measure will apply to all transactions which took place after 01 January 2018, so farmers who consolidate their holdings prior to the commencement of the relief will still be eligible.

My Department is continuing to explore the potential State Aid aspects of the measure and this may take a little time.